Sunday, July 4

Before they call, I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.
—Isaiah 6:34

It's a rare gift to have our heart heard—to be so close and intimate with someone that words hardly need to be spoken. Seldom do we have someone care so much for us that our needs are anticipated before they are even articulated. 

Most often our relationships require not only clearly spoken language, but explanation and interpretation of that language. The problem lies in the fact that we are more focused on ourselves than on others. 

Think of the last time you were in conversation. Did you find yourself really listening or were you distracted by thoughts of what you wanted to say once the other person paused speaking?

In relationships of deep love, it's possible to set aside one's own agenda in order to hear the heart of the other person. The fact that God promises to answer the needs of our hearts, even before we speak those needs in words, is a testament to God's deep, deep love for us.

It's not so much the answer of our unspoken prayer that is important. It is, rather, that God loves us so much that every thought, worry, joy, concern, anxiety, delight of our heart is known, heard and understood by God. The contents of our heart actually matter to God. We matter to God.

Hear my heart, O God, and answer the needs You hear through the abundance of Your love.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2003.